June 12th- Brooksville

[Viper]

[quote="nc4me"]I pmed a couple of guys about towing the trailer.

Does anyone know how many paper plates and paper towels we have? We'll be having pizza for lunch and I don't want to be short on paper products.

I can bring paper plates and towels. I have tons of that stuff at the restaurant. Let me know if you would like me to.

[nc4me]

Good news and not so good news.

Good news- The event is filling up quickly. Only 6 spots left, get em while you can.

Not so good news- My 2 possible trailer tow people can't do it. Please if anyone can tow the trailer, volunteer asap. I want to make sure this is taken care of.

[nc4me]

Thanks Dave, for volunteering for lunch duty.

[WAFlowers]

I'll tow the trailer. I'm undecided wheter to stay for the event. If I did I'd have to co-drive since I will have the SUV instead of my car.

Anyone want a co-driver?

Or maybe I'll just drop off the trailer and go kayaking with my son. He and I will be alone this summer after Willemina leaves next weekend, and I want to spend a lot of time with him.

[Jamie]

I'll tow the trailer. I'm undecided wheter to stay for the event. If I did I'd have to co-drive since I will have the SUV instead of my car.

You're welcome to co-drive w/ me, Bill. Sam's committed to a sheriff's department event that weekend, so he won't be coming.


Pre-registration is now full. We're actually checking in at 2 over the 75 person limit, due to the last few entrants registering guests...I'm going to leave it there for now, figuring we'll probably have a few drops between now and 3 June.

[WAFlowers]

You're welcome to co-drive w/ me, Bill. Sam's committed to a sheriff's department event that weekend, so he won't be coming.

Thanks Jamie. I think I'll take you up on that. Someone will have to adjust my registration to the proper class.

Pre-registration is now full. We're actually checking in at 2 over the 75 person limit, due to the last few entrants registering guests...I'm going to leave it there for now, figuring we'll probably have a few drops between now and 3 June.

Wow! I just snuck in under the wire. :shock:

[Jamie]

Thanks Jamie. I think I'll take you up on that. Someone will have to adjust my registration to the proper class..

Done. Welcome back to Miatas, and intro to R-compounds. Just remember, no ABS.

Pre-registration is now full. We're actually checking in at 2 over the 75 person limit, due to the last few entrants registering guests...I'm going to leave it there for now, figuring we'll probably have a few drops between now and 3 June.

Wow! I just snuck in under the wire. :shock:

The last few events have filled early, and not too many no shows. We're getting popular again....

[puncturina]

Since you mentioned some issues with newbies doing timing, I just thought I would make some comments in the spirit of trying to improve the experience for all.

I worked timing at the last event, and at one prior event. I made sure to come to the timing trailer for work shifts before my work shift to get familiarized with the process again. I also helped to set up the timing stuff, and that was also helpful.

I got stressed out several times during my shift, and I feel like it sort of blew my concentration for the rest of the day. I guess I shouldn't take things so seriously

Anyway, a better orientation for courseworkers would have made my job easier.

1. Courseworkers should not walk/run through the timing light beams. If this happens and the timer doesn't notice it, the run or the next run will be screwed up.
2. Courseworkers MUST call in cones and cars off course, no matter how obvious it may seem. There were several times when I saw downed cones and had to radio for info on the downed cones. People in the timing trailer don't always have a good perspective to see what happened. If a courseworker runs out to replace a cone and finds that it is still in the box, it would be helpful to let the timer know that is was not a penalty.
3. Maybe the course map should be sort of partitioned off to clearly delineate each station's area of responsibility. Last week and the previous month at Brooksville, I noticed that there was an occasional lapse, when a cone was down and nobody called it in at first, and nobody moved quickly to reset it. Maybe that's overkill.
4. Remind courseworkers to watch for car number and downed cones, not just admire the drivers' techniques.
5. I liked that my coworker responded back to radio calls from the courseworkers, reading back what we heard. This gives workers a chance to correct the timer if we got things wrong.

Anyway, that's my two cents on timing duties...Maybe someone wants to collect pet peeves and suggestions from other people who work timing and make up a checklist to review at the driver's meeting.

[Native]

^^^None of that is peeves - it's all good courseworking. Your observations are correct.

#3 might be overkill. But still, once a "lapse" is noticed, the courseworkers would do well to, at that point, determine who's covering where. You could partition the course ahead of time, but sometimes you can't always predict where the "busy" areas will be...so courseworkers might adjust the location of their stations and the size of their territory.

There usually is a quick tutorial during drivers' meetings - for courseworkers - stand don't sit, run don't walk, hold the radio button before speaking and speak normally, announce station, car and penalty, etc. Some event chairs emphasize more than others...

[jev61]

I need to add a guest to my registration, Sara Tinsley. I'll bring an extra $5 with me to the event. Joe

[jev61]

I'd like to add my two cents worth to the coursework topic. I think it would be very helpful to have three people assigned to each station out on the course. One with the flag and radio and two to shag cones. The flag/radio person needs to be more experienced to direct the activities at the station. I'd like two runners to allow old farts like me to catch my breath between sprints. I've ended up with sore shins after each event from running after cones.

[Native]

It's sometimes difficult to come up with 3 workers per station, per run group, even with 60 entries, given other jobs that need to be assigned.

If physically you are unable to shag cones, please let Jamie (or whoever is doing work assignments) know ahead of time so they can make a note and assign a more suitable job. Or sign up for the one of your preference through your registration.

We don't want to torture anyone.

[Jamie]

I worked timing at the last event, and at one prior event. I made sure to come to the timing trailer for work shifts before my work shift to get familiarized with the process again. I also helped to set up the timing stuff, and that was also helpful.

I got stressed out several times during my shift....

And now you're fully indoctrinated into the madness that's timing.... Seriously, one of the misconceptions out there is that the timing crew has a fairly easy job sitting in the shade. Reality is that the combination of timing, starter, and grid control the flow of the event, and timing is primarily reponsible for managing that. That's why traditionally we haven't assigned novices to any of those positions, and with "novice" now redefined as three events or less, we even cherry-pick among the others. That said, we do want to let people have a shot...just know (as Eva does!) that it's not a cush job, and we'll probably be asking people to spend their "off" shift shadowing a regular crew a few events rather that just installing them in the trailer.

Anyway, a better orientation for courseworkers would have made my job easier.

1. Courseworkers should not walk/run through the timing light beams. If this happens and the timer doesn't notice it, the run or the next run will be screwed up.

Sometimes it's not just courseworkers walking through the beam -- rare that we don't see that. But debris blowing through the beam sometimes causes the same problem. Wait until you run timing with thunderstorms within 10 miles, and lightning causes false trips....

We can add "don't walk through to beam" to the orientation, though.

2. Courseworkers MUST....

Quite alot of that is on the existing drivers meeting checklist. If you don't hear the event chair cover it, do speak up.

As Steve said, coverage areas, and in some cases, even the worker station locations themselves, are subject to self-adjustment. The bottom line for courseworkers is to pay attention -- work your portion of the course like you want it to be run while you're driving!

I think it would be very helpful to have three people assigned to each station out on the course. One with the flag and radio and two to shag cones. The flag/radio person needs to be more experienced to direct the activities at the station. I'd like two runners to allow old farts like me to catch my breath between sprints. I've ended up with sore shins after each event from running after cones.

Three people on a station is ideal, and we do that when we have the people available. When I'm doing work assignments, I make a point of not pairing two novices together. That still leaves a spread of experience, but at a minimum, one person on station should have several events behind them, so should understand the basics.

We do accomodate physical limitations -- as Steve said, if you can't run, we'll work with it. For some, that may mean spending a little extra time training up for something. Of course, if it's just shin splints and wind, I'll be happy to lead all those younger than I am (that covers all but four or five) on an accelerated course walk at 120 paces per minute...you'll be fine after a few events....

I need to add a guest to my registration, Sara Tinsley.

I saw the add in the database yesterday...she's in the count.

For general reference, the database is frozen right now, since we're at 77 people...can't accept any more adds past 5pm yesterday.

[nc4me]

Thanks Bill for towing the trailer!

[buddy bodean]

3 folks in E2, looks like a sticka fer sure!

[yamaha731]

I may have to switch to E2. I burnt a hole in my R compound right front tire it locked up and I didn't notice. I will let you know when I figure out what tires I can get. I have nothin but bad luck with tires

[Jamie]

No big deal...we can adjust that morning if necessary.

[garage west]

3 folks in E2, looks like a sticka fer sure!

Yay!

I may have to switch to E2. I burnt a hole in my R compound right front tire it locked up and I didn't notice. I will let you know when I figure out what tires I can get. I have nothin but bad luck with tires

Boo!
Yellow_Colorz_PDT_06

[yamaha731]

aw come on are times are usually pretty close and I might have to run on my dryed up bald gatorbacks

[shakedown067]

aw come on are times are usually pretty close and I might have to run on my dryed up bald gatorbacks

Gatorbacks? When was the last time Goodyear produced those? 1995.